Through it All
by s82
Summary: Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon find themselves face to face with grave injustices, that only brings about the question: why?


I wrote this story after watching the Anne Frank movie that was on last Sunday and Monday. I'm not sure who saw it, but those who did, I imagine, were as moved as I was by it. I have seen the other movies, other specials about her and read her book, but this time it really hit home. Perhaps, it's because of the stress of graduating or of finals, but whatever the reason, I was touched by this special.  
  
I believe that if you read this story you'll be able to easily sort out the historic references in it. I only wish that the history this story is based on never occurred.  
  
Rated PG-13 for violence, death, and drama.  
  
I don't own the characters of the Jedi or Council and make no money from this work.  
  
~*~  
  
"THROUGH IT ALL..."  
By: Susie (Ari82@aol.com)  
  
~*~  
  
It was an ordinary diplomatic mission, the Council had said. Protect General H'olik from the possibility of uprising citizens, Mace had explained. Do not interfere with the citizens or how the planet Floa-1 is run, Mundi had emphasized.  
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi would have laughed at what the Council deemed an 'ordinary' mission if it wasn't so gruesome. The Council left out the important detail that Floa-1 was in the midst of a bloody world war and General H'olik was the leader of the deadly army known as Nize. Somehow, the information that the citizens known as Jeqs were being rounded up and murdered by the hundreds everyday, also slipped out of the Council's grasp.  
  
The young Padawan, only sixteen, followed dutifully behind his Master who followed the General around one of his compounds. The term compound was not how the boy would explain what he saw all around though. A prison, or death camp, was much more fitting.  
  
Everywhere dirty, broken, decaying brown shacks rose from the mud littered with waste, both human and animal. The buildings each looked about ready to fall over and unworthy of holding life. But, Obi-Wan knew, all too well, what was inside those buildings for the General allowed the Jedi a tour just earlier that day when they first arrived on Floa-1.  
  
Inside each shack, at least eight dozen Jeqs crammed together- dirty, starving, sick and dying. They all looked as bad as the homes they resided in did. When the Jedi and General had entered all eyes turned to them and the Padawan could see the pain so brightly in everyone's faces that he felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to scream out at the top of his lungs about the injustices being done, he wanted to run and pummel the General for his evil ways, but more than anything he wanted to give these poor prisoners hope.  
  
He wanted to tell all who would listen that things would be all right, that the next day would be better and they would be free and would live outside of their hell. Yet, as he walked out of the barracks and looked around he saw the truth of their situation.  
  
Hope was a joke.   
  
There was nothing to hope for here- this was death, and only, death. The lad had seen a brick building in the entrance of the camp and watched the smoke billowing out of it, leaving a snow like effect with ash that covered the ground. He was smart, he knew what the ash really was, or rather, at one time was.  
  
Again, he felt sick.  
  
How could this happen in a world with such technology, with such opportunity and with such promise? How could someone be so cruel, so blind, and just so evil? How could he, the Jedi, and everyone else who knew, stand by and let something like this happen? It was wrong- just wrong in so many ways.  
  
The Jeqs were no different than the Nize. They all were of a race known as Floan, named after their planet, and since the planet had been founded they all lived side-by-side. Nothing separated the Nize from the Jeqs except for the small detail of their beliefs. Obi-Wan wasn't certain about the differences, but off handily he heard the General mention something about a god known as Lenenas that the Nize believe in, but the Jeqs did not.   
  
Because of this difference, H'olik felt it necessary to gain power and exterminate the Jeqs in order to 'save' their planet. He had done just that, too. He came to rule Floa-1 because people listened to his words and those that didn't were killed; fear was his ally and murder was his strength. All, now, were too afraid to stand again him, and the Jeqs were too weak and too few to rise up. So, the deaths, murder, pain, and suffering continued.   
  
By the end of the tour, Obi-Wan was so emotionally drained and sick feeling, that when the General had allowed the Jedi to return to the cabins they were staying in, he felt almost grateful. Once inside though, the apprentice turned to his Master, his face flushed with angry, shame, and horror.  
  
"How can this happen, Master? How can we allow this to continue? We have to do something!"  
  
Qui-Gon faced his Padawan and sadly shook his head. "We are not to be involved."  
  
The boy took a step back like he had been slapped. ~Not get invovled?!?~ How could they stand by and allow this cruelty to happen?  
  
"We cannot interfere with the General's command. We are here by an order to protect him and we will do just that." The Master informed his apprentice.  
  
Like a punch to the chest, the young Jedi felt all air shoved out of his chest. His Master, a maverick that constantly went against the Council's wishes, wasn't going to do anything?!? It was too much for the boy to take.  
  
With a quick turn the apprentice ran out of the cabin and away from Qui-Gon. He ran until he found himself a good enough distance away from the cabin and then fell to the ground on his knees.  
  
He attempted to control his ragged breathing, but found it near impossible and, instead, sat back on his heels to better get what air he could into his lungs.   
  
Looking up, the Padawan saw the soft white particle of ash fall nimbly to the ground unaware that at one time it was a living, breathing Floan. The boy turned his head and watched the skeleton of a worker stumble, fall to the ground, and not get up. He then looked on as a solider lined up a young male who had paused to take a rest, and placed a blaster to he temple. Obi-Wan turned away right as the deafening shot broke the campground.  
  
The boy, feeling so much older than sixteen, looked down at his hands and wept.  
  
For how long he cried, he didn't know, but soon the Padawan found himself encompassed by a pair of warm arms. The feel was so familiar and Obi-Wan realized his Master had found him and was now sitting with him. Fresh tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he turned a stricken face to Qui-Gon.  
  
In a soft voice he uttered only one word, "why?"  
  
His Master looked down at the apprentice and, for the first time that Obi-Wan could remembered, answered, "I don't know. I just don't know, Padawan."  
  
For over an hour, the Master and apprentice sat huddled on the dirty ground holding each other and trying to grasp what was around them, and perhaps, come to some explanation or understanding. By the time they rose to their feet, they had no understanding, no acceptance, and no explanation to answer the simply question why?  
  
Neither could comprehend how someone could be so heartless to believe that exterminating a race would help a planet. Nor did they understand how others could stand by and let it happen, themselves and the Council included. Slowly, the pair walked in the direction of the cabin, holding each other for support not sure of what the future would bring.  
  
Obi-Wan's words still echoed in the Master's head and he truly did wonder how they could stand by and not do anything. Surely, they could liberate the Jeqs and allow those people to have their freedom and lives back. The Republic had to be willingly to help end this inhuman treatment.  
  
A loud crash, followed by a young woman's war-like cry, broke Qui-Gon out of his thought and both Jedi into a sprint. They soon found the source of the noise behind one of the shacks.  
  
On the ground, laid General H'olik with a blaster shot right between the eyes, standing just to the left of him was a young Jeqs in the black and white outfit of a worker; she held a smoldering blaster in her hand. How she got the blaster or General H'olik alone, was unable to be answered because guards, altered by the noise, quickly rushed upon the trio. Within mere seconds they were on the woman and threw her to the ground.   
  
The Padawan acted before he even knew it.  
  
"STOP!" Obi-Wan cried and rushed forward to tackle the nearest guard in order to get him off the woman. So surprised by the action, the other guards ceased their attacks and faced the young boy. Back on his feet after shoving the guard to the ground, the young Jedi faced the other Nize. Slowly, they moved towards the apprentice forgetting about the woman momentarily. All looked ready to make a jump for the young boy, but were stopped by a humming noise right behind them.  
  
Slowly, they turned and found themselves face to face with a deadly green lightsaber and a Jedi Master looking just as deadly. "Get away from here and never come back. Tell the others to leave as well."  
  
The guards heard the warning and began to stare at one another and the dead General on the ground. With their leader dead, they had no one to guide, no one to command them, and no one to turn to. They had no idea what to do, everything they had been told was right had been destroyed the second H'olik was killed. Because of this they did the one thing that came to mind- they fled.   
  
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon both moved their glazes to the young woman. She picked herself off the ground, surveyed the two Jedi and then looked back at General H'olik. With a turn of her head she spit on his corpse.   
  
"Vil oji monae jusu, hunlki." Was all she said before turning and walking away.   
  
The Master and apprentice watched her walk away and then looked at each other. The woman's parting words, though in native Jeq and not Basic, were understandable to the Jedi- "Go to your home, devil."   
  
For the first time since he had been revealed to killing, Obi-Wan felt no grief for someone's life ending and, instead, felt an almost relief that the General lay dead at his feet. Later the boy would examine these emotions with the Force, face them, and move on, but for now he just pushed them deep in his mind.  
  
The older Jedi moved to his Padawan and pulled the boy to his chest in a hug without a word. They stood still tightly holding on to each other as lifelines for what felt like days. It was the only comfort and answer that they could find in the situation around them. Finally, they moved away from each other and began to walk to the cabin to tell the Council to send someone to help those that were left on Floa-1.  
  
~*~  
  
The trip back to Coruscant so far had been spent in total silence and the Padawan had even found himself a small corner of the ship to sit in without his Master. He needed to be alone right now, and wagered his Master did as well.   
  
The Council had done as Qui-Gon asked, and currently Floa-1 was in leadership of the Republic and was trying to be saved. In the end, Obi-Wan learned that over the three year course that H'olik was in power, over four million Jeqs had been killed.  
  
The Padawan looked out the star cruiser at the approaching Temple and felt his heart sink. ~Four million who would never see another sun rise, four million who would never watch families grow, four million that were forever gone~ By his extermination, H'olik had successfully reduced the number of Jeqs living on Floa-1 from over five million to a little more than a million. Family lines were destroyed, and those that weren't, were forever broken. Not one Jeq wasn't effected by the mass murdering of their people, not only in the sense that the killing happened all around them, but also in the way that everyone had lost someone they knew.   
  
Four million was a horrific number, but still a number. Others from distant planets, would hear about the four millions deaths, morn, but move on. Perhaps they would questioned how something like this could happen, but their lives would continued as always. Obi-Wan, however, had seen those deaths up front, he had seen the pain, the agony, the suffering even if only for one day. He had seen all this and still done nothing about it; it just happened that the women murdered the General. If she hadn't, the Jedi would have done their mission and moved on leaving the planet and the Jeqs to die.  
  
Obi-Wan had done nothing when he knew that something had to be done. Once, while on the planet, he had asked why someone could do this, but now he wondered, not why someone could do this, but why someone, like himself, could do nothing about it.  
  
How could he have stood by, even if only for a day, and let the murders continue? In the end the boy knew, he, and others that never spoke out, were as much to blame for the Jeqs death as H'olik. They had done nothing and because of that, the Jeqs were forcibly silenced.  
  
Looking out the window, towards the Temple and the life that he knew would be waiting once he got off the ship, he had one question running through his head.  
  
Why did these people have to suffer so?  
  
Why had the Nize felt themselves so superior that they thought it was all right to destroy an entire civilization? How could they even begin to believe that this was okay- even sanctioned by their god, Lenenas? How could someone be so egotistical to believe they had the right to kill someone for being different?   
  
In the small area of the ship that he had hidden himself in, the young Padawan wept again.  
  
He cried for the mothers that lost children, the sons that lost parents, the wives that lost husbands, and the countless others that been unjustly murdered.  
  
How could this happen?  
  
The young boy didn't know...  
  
...and prayed he never would.  
  
  
"Through it all I still believe in the goodness of man." -Anne Frank  
  
  
Finis.  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
